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But parents and schools have their priorities; making sure our kids eat right because research shows a clear connection between nutrition and student performance in school.

Children with obesity and diabetes live harder poorer lives, they often don't finish school and earn much less than their healthy counterparts.

Proper school nutrition must be complemented by activities outside of the cafeteria. The decisions parents make to keep their kids healthy are critical in fighting this battle on the home front.

Obesity puts our children at risk of developing serious diseases - such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression. It keeps our children from performing their best at school.

Kids see cooking as a creative outlet now, like soccer and ballet. It gives me hope that things like fast food, childhood obesity and the horrible state of school lunches can be addressed by kids and their parents.

When you start one of these programs, school lunch programs, in a country that heretofore had nothing of that kind, immediately school enrollment jumps dramatically. Girls and boys get to the classroom with the promise of a good meal once a day.

If a school makes an effort to provide kids the right foods and help them to be more active, this benefits the student and the family's health. If you embark on a program to improve your health with a church or community group, you are more likely to stick with it over time.

Kids don't eat fast. They take their time; they talk and laugh. Sometimes it's really annoying, because you're like, 'Come on, it's bedtime!' But try it: You'll fill up before you know it, because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to know your stomach is full.

One of the problems we have is children are not in school long enough in the day and during the year.